


Paperback Hearts

by Ivrigasked



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Auguste (Captive Prince) Lives, Author!Laurent, Bookstore AU, College AU, Fluff, Honestly Laurent is just trying to do his job and Damen refuses to let him have peace, Instagram Live Sessions, M/M, Meet-Cute, Throwback storytelling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25419142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivrigasked/pseuds/Ivrigasked
Summary: Four years ago, Laurent worked at a bookstore/cafe near his college campus.Now a successfully published author, he and Damen recount how they met through weekly instagram live sessions with Laurent's followers.
Relationships: Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm Lex. Welcome to a completely self-indulgent fic.
> 
> This all started as an AU my best friend had that I totally stole and ran away with. And honestly, most of the dialogue comes from conversations she and I made up :p 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> (This is my first fic for this fandom. I stayed away for a long time because I didn't think I could do these characters justice. Be kind to me!)

“My workout routine?” Laurent laughs. “What makes you think I have ever stepped foot in a gym? I _read books_ for a living.”

A few years after graduating with his degree in English Literature—only a year behind Damen with his own degree in Poli-Sci—Laurent was only 24 and already a published author with a rapidly growing internet following. 

“In all honesty, Damen makes me go with him sometimes and I just do whatever he tells me. Which does not happen often, if you must know.” 

He does weekly live sessions with his followers where they hang out, chat, and discuss their current reads and various book-related topics. It all started with just a few random live unboxings, but his followers liked hanging out with him so much he decided to make it a regular thing. 

“Okay, next question…” Laurent squints at the chat, “Where did you and Damen meet?” His cheeks color faintly at the question, and he looks sheepishly down into his lap. 

“Talking about me?” Damen calls from off-screen, and Laurent looks up and dramatically rolls his eyes, watching Damen as he comes to sit next to him on the floor in front of the coffee table where Laurent has his phone resting against his laptop. 

“They always ask about you. You’re a crowd favorite.” Laurent tells him and Damen smiles brightly at the camera as he settles in next to him.

“Hi guys! How’s it goin’?” He greets, waving enthusiastically to the audience through Laurent's phone camera. 

“They just asked how we met.” Laurent informs him, and Damen laughs loudly, his eyes crinkling around the edges. 

“I love this story.” Damen says, smiling indulgently at his boyfriend. 

“You love this story only because you think you were _so smooth—“_ Laurent sneers. 

“I was! I swept you off your feet—“ Damen argues, his tone light and teasing. 

Laurent hold up his hand, cutting him off, “No, Damen, you practically _stalked me_ and told me you’d be my whole world— _“_

“I did _not stalk you,_ I was just admiring you from a distance on a somewhat regular basis—“ 

“So you were _watching_ me then—“ 

“Babe—“ Damen huffs, but Laurent cuts him off again. 

“Do not ‘babe’ me right now Damen, I swear to god—“ He scowls, his eyebrows stitching together as they stare each other down. 

“Hey, hey!” Damen laughs, grabbing Laurent’s wrists as he tries to shove him. “Let’s just tell them, yeah? Start at the beginning? How long do you have left?”

“There’s only thirty minutes left in this session, Damen.” 

“Well then let’s just start now and we can pick it up next week.” Damen says, shrugging. "It could be a new segment." 

“No. Do you honestly think I’m going to let you completely hijack my meticulously planned and organized weekly live sessions with _my_ followers?” Laurent asks, staring blankly at him. 

“Well, I'll need time to convince them that my version of the story is correct.” Damen replies, his expression serious. 

Laurent frowns. “If you have to convince them, it only contradicts your validity.” 

Damen leans in then, wrapping one arm around Laurent's shoulders and the other around his waist. “Shut up Laurent I’m trying to kiss you.” He plants one kiss into Laurent’s neck before Laurent attempts to wrestle him off. 

“Aren’t you the PDA police? There are several hundred people watching us, unless you forgot?” 

“You know, I just came out here to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now.” Damen pouts playfully, pulling back, but keeping his hands on Laurent. 

“You’re a child. Why do I tolerate you?” Laurent asks, and Damen smirks back at him. 

“Because I’m your whole world and you love me, we’ve been over this.” 

“You’re insufferable.” Laurent’s face breaks out into a grin, despite his steely exterior. “And we’ve ignored the chat for upwards of ten minutes. Let’s see what they have to say on the matter.” 

Laurent leans forward and scrolls back up through the chat, pointedly ignoring the ‘you guys are so cute’ & ‘I could watch you two bicker all day’ comments. 

“Seems as though they want us to do it.” Laurent says, frowning playfully. “This is all your fault, you know.” 

“What!” Damen barks. “My fault? How?” 

“Because if they hadn’t found your private Instagram, they wouldn’t even know you _exist_.” Laurent says, checking his nails nonchalantly. 

Damen gapes, “Oh you’re gonna bring that up again? You couldn’t have kept me a secret forever! I go to all of your events!” 

“No one would have known you were with me—“ 

“I’m your boyfriend! We live together!” Damen retorts and laughs loudly, rolling back against the couch with his laughter. 

“Technicality,” Laurent shrugs, and it makes Damen laugh even harder. 

“Alright, let's just tell them.” Damen says when he catches his breath. “I’m sure they’re dying to know and we’ve already killed several minutes.” 

“Fine, where should we start?” Laurent asks. “The part where you watched me, or the part where you followed me home?” 

“Laurent!” 

———

4 years ago: 

“That guy over there keeps looking at you. Do you know him?” Jord asks, coming up beside Laurent at the counter of the bookstore/coffee shop they both work at near campus. 

“Who?” Laurent frowns, not lifting his eyes from the page of the book he’s busy reading. 

“That guy. By the window. Dark hair?” 

Laurent looks up, annoyed, to see that there is in fact a dark haired student by the window, with his laptop and textbooks spread ungracefully across one of the cafe tables, focusing a bit too intensely on his work. Laurent scowls, giving him a once over, and lets his gaze fall back to the page. “No, I don’t know him.” He says. 

“Huh. Okay,” Jord replies, before continuing his count of the inventory. 

In all the years that Laurent has worked at Delpha, he’d never noticed that particular student before. Irritated and unable to properly focus, Laurent shuts his book in a huff and sets it aside. His eyes find their way back over to the man with the dark hair, who now looks a bit more relaxed and concentrated. Laurent surely doesn’t notice the way the sun hits the man’s tanned skin through the glass, or how his dark curls look hand tousled and soft to the touch. And he certainly doesn’t allow himself to watch, stare even, as the mystery student bites the end of his pen in thought, or runs his fingers through his hair in frustration. Laurent definitely doesn’t lean forward, resting his chin on his fist, to get a better look. 

“If I didn’t know better I’d say you’re drooling.” Jord says a few moments later, breaking Laurent out of his reverie. 

“Pardon?” Laurent flushes, looking away and attempting to hide from Jord’s knowing expression. 

Jord smirks, setting down his clipboard on the counter and resting his hip against it. “You’re not subtle.” 

Laurent looks at Jord. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Jord’s brow furrows. “Laurent do you--” He starts. 

“Don’t even finish that question, Jord. Go dust the young adult romance section or something. Make yourself useful.” Laurent says. 

“Oh, because you’re being so useful by staring at our customers.” Jord scowls. 

Laurent smirks and crosses his arms. “I am being useful. Don’t you always tell me my job is to stand still and look pretty?” He replies. 

Jord huffs a laugh and pushes away from the counter. “Alright asshole, have fun gawking at strangers.” 

Laurent doesn’t respond as he watches Jord walk across the room and behind the shelves, out of sight and ear-shot. He sighs deeply, closing his eyes for a moment, with his elbows on the counter and his fingers on his temples, letting the ambient early evening sounds of the cafe wash over him. He reminds himself that he is not bothered by the stranger, despite the fact that he’s never seen him in this cafe before in the three years he’s worked there. 

When he opens his eyes again, he finds that the dark-haired man is now looking right at him, as if he too, is something to be studied. Laurent straightens, raising an eyebrow, and the stranger’s gaze widens before he shakes his head and grins sheepishly. He turns his attention back to his work, and Laurent’s frown deepens as he wends his way into the stockroom of the bookstore in an attempt to calm the rising heat in his cheeks. 

He paces the room for a few minutes before Jord enters the room behind him. 

“What happened?” He asks, resting his clipboard against his chest.

“Nothing,” Laurent replies, waving him off. “I’m taking my break.” 

“Oh, okay. Need me to cover the register?” 

“Yes.” Laurent replies sharply, and Jord only nods once before setting his clipboard on the shelf and making his way out to the storefront. 

Taking a deep breath, Laurent settles on top of one of the cardboard boxes still filled with copies, and rests his head back against the wall. 

When his break is over and he returns to the front of the store, the dark-haired man is nowhere to be found. 

“I know you probably don’t care, but the hot stranger you’re _totally_ not looking for left about ten minutes ago.” Jord tells him as he meets him back at the register. 

“You’re right,” Laurent replies, “I don’t care.” 

_Good riddance_ , he thinks. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Week 2 live session. 
> 
> Laurent doesn't have patience and Damen is not as slick as he thinks he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, welcome back! 
> 
> Thank you so much for the love and feedback on chapter 1 :) I'm excited to be back posting ch 2! Don't let this minor consistency fool you, I have no sense of regular scheduling, so I won't promise that chapter 3 will be up next week but I will try my hardest to do so!
> 
> Please enjoy <3

“Hello, everyone. Welcome back to what is seemingly now a dramatic retelling of _How I met Your Mother_.” Laurent greets his audience sarcastically, “Damen will be with us shortly as apparently, ‘we’re going live in ten minutes’ was not enough of a warning for him to be prepared, even though I do this every week.” 

“I’m coming!” Damen shouts from the bedroom, causing Laurent to roll his eyes. 

“You were all very enthusiastic about the beginning of the story, and you seem to have some questions, and we’ll do our best to answer a few of them before we continue on.” Laurent explains to the camera. Damen huffs from off-screen, then in a matter of seconds he’s sitting beside Laurent on the floor in front of the couch. 

“Hi everyone, sorry I’m late. Did I hear something about questions?” Damen smiles widely at the camera. 

“Yes,” Laurent replies, then leans forward to inspect the chat. “First question is for me, it reads: ‘Laurent, what was your first impression of Damen?’ Hmm,” Laurent reads, and then leans back against the couch. “I used to pride myself on knowing every customer that would come into the shop, and when he decided to randomly appear one day, it caught me completely off guard. I wasn’t expecting him at all.” 

“You forgot to mention the part where you thought I was drop-dead gorgeous and you were completely enamored by me.” Damen interjects, and Laurent turns to scowl at him. 

“I was not _completely_ _enamored_ by you,” He huffs. 

“Nothing about the gorgeous part?” Damen asks, smirking. 

Laurent pauses and looks away, “That’s implied.” 

Damen shouts a laugh and wraps an arm around Laurent’s shoulder, kissing his hair. Laurent goes to shove him off, but ends up just leaning into him instead. 

“Read another question, you insufferable pest,” Laurent says as Damen continues to laugh under his breath.

“Okay let’s see here, ‘Damen, what was your first impression of Laurent?’ Oh, this is easy.” 

“Is it?” Laurent asks, eyebrows raised. Damen nods. 

“When I first saw him, it was by accident. I needed a quiet place to work on my thesis, and the libraries weren’t cutting it anymore. The fluorescent lights were bothering my eyes.” Damen explains. “So I went to Delpha, because my best friend Nik said it was close to campus and not usually very busy during the afternoons. And on that fateful Tuesday, I knew that I’d just seen the love of my life for the very first time.”

“Oh my god, that is not true.” 

“It is! I stared at you for so long I thought for sure you’d notice. But you were so wrapped up in whatever it was that you were reading that day you didn’t even look up.” 

“Damen--” Laurent starts, but Damen puts a hand gently over his mouth. 

“He looked so good, you guys. Like imagine this,” Damen motions to Laurent, “But four years younger, with glasses on and wearing a sweater.”

“Okay, I think that’s quite enough of that.” Laurent huffs, playfully shoving Damen out of frame. “Next question, ‘Laurent, why didn’t you say anything to Damen on the first day?’” 

“Because he’s shy,” Damen says, and Laurent ignores him. 

“Because he was new, and I don’t like change. That’s all. Your turn, Damen.” Laurent answers shortly, keeping his eyes tied to his lap. 

“Alright,” Damen answers after a few moments, looking away from Laurent and down into the chat. “Looks like, ‘Damen, why were you graduating college so late?’ Alright first of all--”

“Because he’s lazy.” Laurent says, earning himself a gentle finger to the ribs. 

“No, it’s because I didn’t know what I wanted out of my future when I graduated high school. And guys, there’s no expiration date on college. You can go whenever and wherever you want. I took a couple of years off to travel the world, and then when I came home, I decided I wanted to go into politics like my dad. So, at twenty-two I went back to school and got my degree. If I hadn’t waited, I would have wasted a lot of time and money figuring it out, and I wouldn’t have met Laurent.” Damen shrugs nonchalantly. 

Laurent turns to look at him, his eyes narrowed. “Well yes, you probably would have met someone your age,” 

“Okay, alright,” Damen rolls his eyes. “Be quiet. You’re not that much younger than me. Read another question.” 

“Next question, ‘What happened next?’ Well, I’m so glad you asked. Shall we?” 

\-----

Over the course of the next few weeks, Laurent pretends not to notice when the dark-haired stranger returns, taking up the same table by the window every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon like clockwork. He pretends not to notice Jord watching him, or how the stranger only orders one black coffee and never browses for books. He also pretends not to notice when the stranger looks up from his work, eyes glazed over, only to settle again on Laurent amongst all of the other people in the cafe. 

One month after noticing the stranger for the first time, Laurent has the schedule down pat. But when he shows up for his fourth Tuesday shift since the strangers arrival, he’s nowhere to be seen. Laurent scans the shop quickly, his eyes darting from counter to table to bookshelf and back again, but he doesn’t see him anywhere. 

Feeling as unsettled as he did when the stranger made his first appearance, Laurent goes into the stockroom to set down his bag. Jord is elbow deep in a cardboard box, but looks up when Laurent comes in. 

“Hey,” he greets, but frowns when he sees Laurent’s face. “You okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Laurent replies, letting his backpack fall from his shoulder and onto the table by the door. 

“Is this sour mood because your hot stranger isn’t here?” 

“What? No, I--” Laurent pauses, glaring at his friend. “He is not _my hot stranger_. He is simply a stranger turned regular, and now he’s not here. It’s unusual.” 

“Maybe he was from out of town or he’s just running late? Why does it matter?” 

“It doesn’t.” Laurent answers, before turning on his heel and storming out of the stockroom. 

The rest of the week goes by without another appearance of the dark-haired student. Laurent finds himself checking the door, the table, the stacks, just to see if there’s any sign of him at all. By Friday, Laurent’s given up hope. 

The weekend passes in a blur, and by the following Tuesday, Laurent has almost completely forgotten about the stranger. That is, until he arrives at work to see him sitting in his regular spot. 

Caught off guard, Laurent almost walks full-speed into Jord as he glides around the counter with his arms full of books. 

“Dude!” Jord barks as the books tumble loudly to the floor.

“I’m sorry,” Laurent replies quietly, kneeling to help Jord pick up the books. 

“You sure know how to make an entrance.” Jord says, nodding towards the window. “Boy’s back.” 

“I hadn’t even noticed.” Laurent replies sharply, shoving the books into Jord’s grasp and breezing past him towards the stockroom. 

Frustrated with the stranger’s sudden and nonchalant reappearance, Laurent throws his backpack down and runs his fingers through his hair before tying it into a bun to keep it out of his face. It’s going to be a long night, and he doesn’t need one more thing getting on his nerves. 

Laurent spends his shift checking and restocking the shelves, which keeps him tucked amongst the stacks, safely away from wandering eyes. Afternoon comes and goes, and as the sun sets, it casts the cafe into a warm winter glow. Laurent can see the dust float off the shelves as he shuffles copies around, and it fills him with a sense of calm he hasn’t felt all day. Taking a deep breath, he shuts his eyes and rests his head against the shelf in front of him, only to be shortly interrupted by a cough to his left. 

Opening his eyes and straightening quickly, Laurent turns, only to find the handsome stranger, standing at the end of the stack. “Can I help you?” he asks, not unkindly. 

“Yes, hi,” Dark-hair says, grinning confidently. “I’m looking for something to read, and I realized I have no idea what I like. What’s your favorite book?” 

“ _Anna Karenina_ , Tolstoy.” Laurent answers plainly, trying to keep the heat from his face. 

“And where might I find that?” 

“Fiction, two rows down, third shelf from the bottom on the left side. Black spine.” 

“Thank you.” Dark-hair disappears then, and Laurent lets out a slow breath. 

He returns to his work, making himself busy, and he’s just rearranged the shelf above him when there’s movement to his left again. He settles back down on his feet and turns, only to find dark-hair standing at the end of the stack once more.

“Did you find it?” Laurent asks patiently. 

“I did.” Dark-hair replies, pulling it out from behind his back, “This is for you.” 

Laurent frowns, “Do you think I don’t already own a copy of my favorite book?” He asks. 

Dark-hair smiles, then says, “Not one with my name and number inside.” 

Laurent, bemused, stares at the stranger for a moment. Then, “And why, pray tell, would I care for that information?” 

Dark-hair smirks lazily, “Just wait,” He starts. “I’m going to be your whole world.” 

Laurent narrows his eyes then, crossing his arms and staring at the stranger. “Does this usually work for you?” 

The stranger shrugs nonchalantly in response. “Don’t know, I’ve never tried.” 

“Well,” Laurent starts. “It’s horrendously cheesy and not suave in the slightest.” 

“Thank you.” the stranger laughs, “I’m Damen. And you are?” 

“Laurent.” he says, before taking the book from Damen’s hands and walking off in the opposite direction. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for reading. Let me know your thoughts down below! (Comments & kudos are always appreciated)
> 
> Also, I mentioned last chapter that my lovely friend Sam supplied me with the idea for this AU, because she is a godsend and the bestest ever. If you'd like to follow either of on us on the socials to yell about Captive Prince, please do!
> 
> My twitter and tumblr
> 
> Sam's tumblr

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> Idk what the update schedule will look like for this, but I'm crossing my fingers that it's weekly? (Looking at you, me)
> 
> If you're interested, you can find me on twitter @ivrigasked or on tumblr @captain-sass-pants. I also have a bookstagram, which is @_madeofmemories_ if that's something that interests you! I yell about Captive Prince like,,,a lot 
> 
> Okay, see you next time!


End file.
